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No. 748,961. PATBNTED JAN. 5, 1904. G. A. LB PEVRE. ELECTRIC COUPLING.

.APPLIUA TION FILED JAN. 28Vy 1903.

y No MODEL.

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INVENTOR W?. 7W 4X-M y l BY M/@aww ATTORNEY' latented January 5, 1904.,

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. FEVRE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ELECTRIC coUPLlNc.

vSPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 748,961, dated January 5, 1904.

v Application iled January'28, 1903. Serial Nox 140.839, (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that LGEORGE A. LE FEvRE,ot the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Couplings, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in electric couplings, and particularlyv to improvements in couplings such as are used to connect electric circuits on diiferent moving vehicles, and particularly railway or trolley cars.

My invention also has a special relation to devices or apparatus necessitating the use of a plurality of electric circuits on adjacent vehicles-such, for instance, as the brake mechauism and its circuits set forth in my application for Letters Patent of thegUnited States, Serial No. 112,579, tiled June 21,1902. In such an apparatus, and, in fact, in any apparatus where a plurality of circuits are used, it is necessary to have a given circuit of one car connected with the corresponding circuit of the next adjacent car; but with most couplings it is possible to connect so that the circuit of one car would be connected to the wrong circuit of the next, and so inefficiency and confusion would result.

The object of my invention is to produce a simple coupling which makes it impossible to mix the circuits, which also provides for a yielding or elastic connection between cars,so as to make room for the necessary car movement, and,furfher,to provide means for automatically closing or opening the circuits, as desired, by the coupling or uncoupling of the apparatus.

Other objects of my invention will appear from the description to follow.

With the above and other ends in view my invention consists of certain features of construction and combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters and flgures'of reference refer to similar part-s throughout the several `views.

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional elevationvot' Ymypiimproved coupling. Fig. 2 is an end view thereof, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the coupling.

The coupling consists,broadly,of the socket member 10 and the plug member 11, which members are adapted to be connected or disconnected, aswill appear below. The socket member has a base or plate 12, which is secured rigidly, as shown at 13, to an end portion of the car, and the base is provided with holes 14 for the passage ofthe circuit-wires, as the drawingsshow. The socket member is also provided with a series of projecting sockets 15, having their outer ends or mouths flaringand having their innereuds set firmly into the base, as shown at 16. These sockets are arranged in pairs, there being a pair for each complete circuit, and in each socket is a sliding connecting-hook 17, having a couplinghead 18, and the hook is normally retracted by a spiral spring 19, which ts between the shoulder 20 in thesocket and a pin 21, which is secured to the hook 17 and extends downward through the socket and connects with the handle 22. This handle runs opposite all the sockets and connects, as just described, with each hook 17, and to provide for moving the hooks against the tension of their springs the sockets are longitudinally slotted, as shown at 23, in which slots the pins 21 move, and it will be seen that by grasping the handle 22 all the hooks 17 may be sim ultaneously moved. It is obvious that other means might be employed for retracting the hooks, and it is equally obvious that the sockets should be of insulating material and that .the handle 22 should be insulated from the hooks 17.

The plug member 11 has projecting plugs V25, which have hook-heads 18a, similar to and adapted to connect with the heads 18 on the hooks 17. It will be seen that the connection can only be made by pulling out the hooks 17 until the heads 18 project from the sockets 15, then placing the heads 18 and 18a in engagement, after which the engaged heads can be permitted to slide back into the sockets 15, where they will be securely held in engagement by the walls of the sockets. The plugs 25 are insulated from the bar 2-1, to which they are all united by suitable bushings 25a.

In some cases it is desirable to have the circuits on the cars to which the couplings are connected automatically closed or opened,

IOO

as the case may be, when the couplings are operated and to provide for automatically closing the circuit through the socket member 10. I have shown the device in the upperpart of Fig. 1 and another means for closing it through the two middle socket-hooks,v

these two methods being illustrated to show that many similar devices might be used without affecting the principle of the invention. For instance, in connection with the upper pair of sockets 15 l have shown a pendent link 26, pivoted to the upper hook 17 and adapted to fall through a slot 28 in the next socket 15 into engagement or contact with the second hook 17, as shown by dotted lines in the figure. The link 26 is normally held ont of contact with the second hook 17 by a finger 27, of insulating material, which is attached to the bar 24 ot' the plug member 11 and which when the coupling is united holds up the link, as shown in the drawings. When the coupling members are separated, the link falls and short-circuits the hooks 17, as already described.

Between the two middle sockets 15 I have shown engaging spring members 29, which are attached to the adjacent hooks 17 and which normally contact, but which are separated when the coupling members are united by the pointed end 27 of the tinger 27, like that already described.

In connection with the lower pair of sockets 15 I have shown means for automatically opening the circuit when the coupling members are separated. Here a link 29, pivoted to the upper of the two sockets 15, is normally pulled by a spring 30, so as to be out of engagement with the lower hook 17;4

but when the coupling members are separated, and, in fact, just before they separate, the link 29 is engaged bya pin 31 on the upper of the hooks 17, and so pushed against the ltension of the spring 30 into positive contact with the lower hook 17. In the drawings I have shown the two upper hooks 17 connected with the circuit-wires ot, the two middle books with the circuit-wires b, and the two lower hooks with the circuit-wires c, while the plug member has corresponding wires a b' c connected on the appropriate plugs 25.

This coupling is shown as being applicable to the brake system described in my former application, above referred to, so that the wires a represent the motor-circuit for apply- 'ing the brakes, the wires b the reverse-circuit, and the wires c the emergency-circuit; but obviously' the coupling can be used for other plural circuits, and as the plug member might sometimes be on the forward end of the train and the coupling member on the rear end, and vice versa, I have therefore shown means for closing the circuit auto.

matically through the wires a' and b' by the uncoupling of the apparatus. The lower circuit it is desired to have open when uncoupling takes place, so, except while the uncou pling is being effected, I do not show means for short-circuiting the circuit c.

To close the circuits through the other wires, the uncoupling may be effected by the following means: I provide a bail 32, which is pivoted, as shown, at 33 and 34 and is pressed by a spring 36, so as to fall into engagement or contact with the plugs 25. This bail has by preference a handle 35, and the opposed end portions are insulated from each other. Now when the coupling is separated the bail immediately presses against the plugs 25, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3, thus completing the circuit between the pairs of plugs and their respective wires. The plugs 25, which are connected with the wires a and with the wires b', can be connected permanently in pairs by the bar 37 or equivalent connection and such plugs left hanging at the rear end of a train, so as to be inserted in the rear coupling to complete the circuit.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I provide a coupling in which one part is rigid on the car, and as the hooks are arranged with opposed parts it Will be seen that it is impossible to mix the circuits, because if the plug member is turned upside down the hooks will be the wrong way about and will not connect. It will also be seen that whileI have shown simple means for automatically opening or closing the several circuits bythe act of coupling or uncoupling still very many analogous means might be used, and I do not limit my invention to any particular circuit-closing device, but only limit it to a coupling such as described and automatic circuit breakers or openers actuated by the coupling or uncoupling act.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An electric coupling,comprisinga socket member having a plurality of parallel sockets, each socket having a longitudinally-movable engaging member therein, and a plug member having a plurality ofplugs to enter the sockets and engage the socket members, the engaging parts being held against displacement while iu the socket-s and free to disengage when pulled ont of the sockets.

2. Anelectriccoupling,comprisingasocket member having a plurality of rigid parallel sockets with sliding electric terminals therein, and a plug member having projecting plugs to engage the aforesaid sliding terminals, the plugs and terminals being free to disengage when the sliding terminals are pulled forward in the sockets,and held against displacement when the plugs and terminals are in normal position within the sockets.

3. An electric coupling comprisinga socket member having a plurality of parallel sockets, each socket having a longitudinally-movable engaging member therein, which said engaging members are operatively connected together to move in unison, and a plug member having a plurality of plugs which enter IOO the sockets and engage the said engaging members and are held in engagement with the said engaging members While the said engaging members are within the sockets.

4. The combination with a plurality of electric circuits, of a set of coupling members connected to the circuits and normally shortcircuited, a second set of coupling members adapted to engage the first set, and arranged by such engagement to open the circuits through the coupling, and hand-operated means connected with the said first set of coupling members for disengaging the said two sets of coupling-members.

5. An electric coupling, comprising a series of parallel sockets, spring-pressed hooks forming the terminals of circuits arranged to slidelongitudinally in the sockets,such hooks having engaging heads, and a series of plugs also forming circuit-terminals,said plugs having engaging heads to fit those of the afore said hooks and to enter the sockets.

6. In a coupling of the kind described, the combination with the coupling-phigs forming circuit-terminals, of a bail arranged to swing normally against the plugs and short-circuit Y adjoining plugs.

members, and a handle device connected to the said several sliding members, means for limiting the outward movement of the sliding members operating them in unison.

8. A coupling of the kind described, comprising a plurality of sockets, members sliding longitudinally in the sockets forming circuit-terminals, means for retracting the said sliding members into the said sockets, and opposed plug members having means for engaging the said sliding members and adapted to lie in the same plane as the sliding members when engaged.

9. A coupling of the kind described having one member comprising a plurality of sockets, sliding members within the sockets forming circuit-terminals, means for retracting the said sliding members into the said sockets, opposed plug members forming the other member of the coupling and having Ameans for engaging the said sliding members, and hand-operated` means, connected to the said sliding members for withdrawing the said sliding members from the said sockets.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE A. LE FEVRE.

Witnesses:

J. G. DUNBAR, WM. H. CAMFIELD. 

